Sales Interviewing & Hiring Archives

My Candidate Was a Star Athlete, Will He or She be a Good Salesperson?

Sales managers often look for candidates with an athletic background, particularly when candidates have limited sales experience. A former football or basketball player is likely high in competitiveness, the reasoning goes, and would therefore perform well in sales. Although competitiveness is a critical element of Drive, sales managers need to be careful when interviewing former athletes. Here is why . . . We need to ask ourselves an important question . . . Was the sales candidate’s athletic success because of his initiative only, or did he have a coach pushing him to get out and practice each day? If

Sales Interviewing & Hiring

The Magic Wand Question

“Why did you leave your last job?” It is a question nearly every hiring manager asks, and with good reason. Since the best predictor of future behavior is previous behavior, it is important to know what kind of environment and mindset your candidate is coming from. Is your candidate going to be brutally honest, unusually vague or even downright make up an answer on the spot? Some answers may affirm your confidence in their future with your company, while other answers may send up immediate red flags. As an interviewer, one of your most critical jobs is making sure you

The Illusion of “The Golden Gut”

Over the years, we occasionally get pushback from hiring managers who will dismiss a more scientific screening process in favor of their own intuition also referred to as their “golden gut.” A hiring manager with a golden gut is confident that he/she can pick candidates that will be successful salespeople through intuition alone, and that he just knows a winner when he sees one. Unfortunately, we have never seen the golden gut approach to be proven by the numbers. Inevitably, when we go deeper into the manager’s records it is revealed that the turnover rate is unacceptably high and production

My Candidate Passed the Test, Should I Hire Him Immediately?

One of the most exciting moments of the sales recruiting process is receiving positive testing results for a candidate. As we have noted previously, less than 20% of the population is high in Drive. So, when a candidate scores well on a sales test such as The DriveTest™, it can be very tempting to want to pick up the phone and make an offer. However, this is when we need to be careful. At this point, the test has done its job… it has helped us to weed out low-potential candidates and allowed us to focus on those with a

Sales Experience or Drive: Which is More Important?

Sales managers often look at a candidate’s level of sales experience as a key indicator as to whether he or she will be successful. Previous experience can be alluring, especially if your candidate was at the top of his company within your industry. Unfortunately, experience alone does not tell us whether the candidate will actually step up to the plate and perform. Sales Experience or Drive: Which is More Important? was last modified: December 8th, 2025 by Dr. Chris Croner

When is the Best Time to Use Sales Testing in the Recruitment Process?

Testing is used by a variety of industries to vet initial prospects before a formal interview process begins. Highly technical fields may require a proficiency test that includes knowledge of theory and application. Other candidates in fields that involve significant hands on work may require dexterity testing. Sales fields rely on psychological sales assessment tests to determine if sales candidates have the necessary personality traits needed for success in sales. Administer a Sales Assessment Early in the Hiring Process The most effective time to implement a sales assessment test is after a resume review and an initial phone screen, but

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Lists*

My Candidate Was a Star Athlete, Will He or She be a Good Salesperson?

The Magic Wand Question

The Illusion of “The Golden Gut”

My Candidate Passed the Test, Should I Hire Him Immediately?

Sales Experience or Drive: Which is More Important?

When is the Best Time to Use Sales Testing in the Recruitment Process?